Second Best
by HP Slash Luv
Summary: Dean figures out where he truly stands with Ginny.


**Title:** Second Best  
><strong>Rating: <strong>T  
><strong>Pairing(s)Character(s): **Dean/Ginny, Harry/Ginny (mentioned), Ron/Harry/Hermione (mentioned)  
><strong>Warnings:<strong> EWE  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> Don't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.  
><strong>Word Count:<strong> 776  
><strong>Summary: <strong>Dean figures out where he truly stands with Ginny.  
><strong>Notes: <strong>

**The Test Challenge: **Test 4 – Someone in a couple is in love with someone else – Genre - Romance

**Pick a Card, Any Card Challenge: **Two of Diamonds – Write about being second best.

**Feedback: **Yes

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><p>Dean watches Harry and Ginny implode after Voldemort is defeated. They have all changed because of the war. Everyone was forced to grow up way too soon, but no one more so than Harry Potter, the savior of the wizarding world.<p>

Dean knows that Ginny won't be able to give Harry what he needs. Harry needs someone as scarred as him, and although it was horrible at the school, Harry had it worse. Ginny won't know how to deal with the nightmares and panic attacks Harry is sure to have. As the baby of the family, she was always taken care of during a nightmare, not the other way around.

And Dean knows what will happen, Sure enough, within three months after Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley got back together, they break up again. And thanks to the commotion Ginny makes at a public restaurant, everyone knows it's Harry doing the breaking up.

Dean understands the reasoning behind it even if Ginny doesn't. In a lot of ways, Ginny is still innocent and doesn't understand why Harry can't be the man for her anymore.

He's even less surprised when Ginny shows up at his apartment drunk. She sloppily makes a move on him, but Dean doesn't allow anything to progress. He's not the type of guy that takes advantage of an incapacitated girl.

He puts her in his bed while he takes the couch. She tries to grope him, but he pushes her hands off of him. "Sleep it off, Gin. You'll feel better in the morning." Dean says it, but he doesn't truly believe it.

Ginny is sober the next morning but still miserable.

Dean wants to help her feel better, but he doesn't believe casual sex is the way to go about it. "If you want to talk, I'm here for you," he says soothingly.

Ginny leaves in a huff, probably to go find someone who won't turn her down.

She continuously shows up at his apartment, sometimes drunk and sometimes not. She rants about Harry and the unfairness of it all, wonders why she isn't enough for the boy she has loved unwaveringly for years. She always rants about Harry with Ron and Hermione, but it's not something Dean understands.

It's not long before Dean stops resisting Ginny's questing lips and roaming hands. He might be a noble guy, but he's still a guy, and Ginny's a sexy, spirited girl who wants him.

He's surprised and happy that she doesn't want it to be a onetime thing. He never thought it would be more than a one-night stand, a night of giving and receiving comfort, but now they're going on dates and spending all of their free time together.

Dean hasn't been this happy since before the war. Finally, Ginny is getting over Harry and maybe the two of them have a chance at a real future.

They're at lunch one day. Dean is holding Ginny's hand, gazing at her with soft eyes, when she stiffens, eyes focused on something behind him.

Dean turns around and there's Harry, along with Ron and Hermione. The three of them are holding hands as they sit at a table. Dean watches as Hermione leans over and picks Harry cheek and is surprised when Ron doesn't even blink. Instead, the redhead repeats the action with Harry's other cheek. Suddenly, Ginny's rants about the three of them make total sense. Who else could understand what Harry is going through other than the other two people who were with him during the seventh year? Who else could provide the comfort Harry needs? It makes sense.

When Dean turns back to his girlfriend and sees the way her eyes are zeroed in on the trio, his heart sinks. All of this time, he thought Ginny was getting over her ex-boyfriend, but now Dean understands.

Ginny might love Dean in a way, but he's not her first choice. She's settling for him. Dean is nothing more than a consolation prize, and the idea causes his heart to constrict painfully.

If Harry said the word, Ginny wouldn't think twice, but since Harry decided he needed something else, Ginny decided to go to good old reliable, Dean Thomas.

He looks at his plate of food, no longer feeling hungry.

He knows he should end it with Ginny. He deserves better than this. He's worth more than this. He can't, though. While Ginny might have been in love with Harry for years, Dean has been in love with Ginny for almost as long. He can't say goodbye to her. No matter how much it hurts to know that she's wishing he was someone else.


End file.
